A rainy day
by TheChia
Summary: After the election, everything went down for her. But maybe there's still hope...?
1. Chapter 1: Rain

She had been waiting for fourteen years to meet her angel.  
But then, her angel was stolen from her in a matter of seconds.

* * *

It was raining.  
Not just outside the dorm, but inside her heart as well.  
And she did not like the feeling.

A small sigh escaped her mouth as she looked at the empty bed across the room. It had been only two months since the day of the Etoile Election, two months since she pushed her beloved roommate towards the other woman, yet it felt like an eternity. It just had seemed like the right thing to do, even though it hurt so much. Seeing Nagisa happy was worth it, but in the same moment, everything was taken from her.

Just three days after the election, Nagisa told her that she would be moving to Shizuma's room, leaving her all alone again. She just smiled and told her she would be all right, even though it should have been obvious that she was lying. That night, she cried herself to sleep.

After that fateful day, everything in her life went downhill. She tried to get over Nagisa, tried to date other girls to get her mind off the redhead. It didn't work.

She tried starting a relationship with Yaya, bonding over their broken hearts. But they both agreed that it wouldn't work out before they even really started doing more than holding hands. Yaya found a new love in Tsubomi-chan later, she was left alone.

She tried dating Chikaru-san, since Le Rim's student council president seemed to care for her quite a lot. But she found herself unable to match the older girl's pace, leaving her completely exhausted after just a single week.

She tried to find comfort with Chiyo-chan, as the first-year student had admired her for quite some time, even if it was not to the same extent she displayed towards Nagisa.  
She didn't even know what happened. One moment they were sitting on her bed, leaning softly against each other while enjoying a cup of tea. The next thing she remembered was that she was pushing down the younger girl, trying to get her out of her uniform. What made her stop was not only the terrified look on Chiyo's face, but also the realization of the terrible things she was about to do to her.

She was pretty sure that Chiyo-chan never told anyone what happened, but in a dorm with that many students, someone had to have seen her run out of her room, almost crying her eyes out.  
And word did travel fast at Strawberry Hall. Nobody said anything, but she noticed that the other girls were keeping their distance, staying away from the one who surely did something bad to a younger student.

It didn't show on her face, but the isolation got to her. Fewer people talked to her. Nobody visited her room anymore. The midnight tea parties stopped.  
Her reaction was to shut herself off even more, basically only leaving her room for school and meals. She even took a break from the literature club, using the excuse of having writer's block, only to be away from everyone else.

And it worked. Aside from the occasional sound of footsteps in the hallway, her room could as well be in another universe from the rest of Astrea Hill. "Her" room... that small detail still saddened her. Just a small while ago, it was still "their" room, "Nagisa's and Tamao's" room. Now...well, there were surely some rumors and weird names about the room as well as it's inhabitant.

Over the last few days, a plan had started taking shape in her mind. She would just disappear from here, leave Astrea Hill and everything that happened there behind. It seemed so easy. On her next day off, she'd simply pack some clothes and a bit of money into her bag and leave. Students going into town wasn't that rare of a sight, so nobody would be noticing anything. She'd simply go into town, change into casual clothes somewhere, then board a train. She didn't plan where she would be going yet. Maybe she'd move into a small village in the country, far away from the school, and far away from her family who'd most likely force her to go back to Miator. Of course, getting an apartment by herself was out of the question, considering her age. But she was a smart girl, so maybe she'd be able to work part-time and rent a room in an inn. She could find new friends who didn't know about the things that took place in Strawberry Hall. And maybe, just maybe, she'd find a new love, someone who would always be by her side and help her get over-

A faint sound interrupted her thoughts. Had she been doing anything else than lying on her bed, she probably wouldn't even heard it. And even so, she wasn't sure if her senses didn't just play a trick on her. But then, she heard it again. Someone was knocking on her door, but very softly, almost as if that person was only grazing the wood with her knuckles.  
 _"Probably some test of courage for the younger girls, knocking on the door of the scary Suzumi Tamao..."_

Slowly, she went towards the door and opened it.  
And there she was, dripping, her eyes hidden behind wet strands of hair.

The person Tamao didn't want to see. The person Tamao wanted to see.  
The most beautiful girl in her world.

"Nagisa-chan...?"


	2. Chapter 2: Angel

"Nagisa-chan...?"  
Indeed, her friend and former roommate was standing in front of her, but gave no answer.  
"Nagisa-chan...? Is something wrong?" She immediately realized how stupid her question was. If everything was alright, Nagisa wouldn't be standing in front of her room, drenched to her bones."You should come in first."  
Nagisa still gave no answer, but did as she was told.  
Just when she was about to close the door, Tamao noticed some other girls in the hallway, watching the scene, whispering to each other.  
Shooting them a quick glare, she went inside, slamming the door shut. She couldn't care less about new rumors about herself, not while her best and, by now, probably only friend was in this state.

She turned towards Nagisa, who was just standing in the room, her face still hidden by her wet hair.  
Only now did she notice that not every drop of water on Nagisa's skin was rain. But there was something else to be done first.  
"Nagisa-chan?"  
No reaction.  
"We have to get you out of these clothes, or else you'll catch a cold."  
No reaction.  
She let out a sigh, before gently taking Nagisa's hand to lead her into the bathroom.  
"Now, take off your clothes and take a shower. I'll go get you some clothes."  
With that, she left the bathroom, looking for her spare school uniform.

When she returned, Nagisa had not moved a single step.  
"Can't be helped, i guess..."  
Letting out another sigh, Tamao put down the clothes she brought before she started to undress the both of them.  
Even then, Nagisa showed no reaction, letting more and more of her body get revealed.  
When she was done, Tamao had to pull her into the shower, as she noticed her friends was starting to shiver from the cold air.  
She only relaxed when both of them were finally having hot water run down their bodies, even though the shower was a bit cramped .  
Even Nagisa seemed to relax a little, but still spoke no word.  
After a while, Tamao turned off the water and gently led her friend out of the shower.  
After drying herself off, she took a new towel and started to wipe the water off Nagisa's body, trying her hardest not to think too much about the places she was touching, only the towel between her hands and the other girl's skin.  
Nagisa's lips, looking soft and oh so tempting.  
Nagisa's breasts, slightly bigger than her own, a size that would fit perfectly in her hands.  
Nagisa's soft belly, which she would love to caress all day long  
And even further down...  
She shook her head violently. This was not the moment to be thinking about these things.  
Focusing on the task itself, she finished drying Nagisa off and dressed her.

After they were done, she sat Nagisa down on the now unused bed that once had been her sleeping place and went to prepare a cup of tea, to warm her friend from the inside.  
"Tamao-chan..."  
She nearly dropped the cup in surprise. "Nagisa-chan?"  
When she turned around, her friend was looking at her, they eyes still looking sad, but at least they were focused on her, not somewhere far away like before. And on her lips was a weak smile. "I'm back..."  
Tamao could feel her eyes getting wet. "Welcome back."

One cup of tea later, they were both sitting on the bed.  
"Say, Tamao-chan..." Nagisa started slowly, but stopped mid-sentence.  
"What is it?"  
"Am I...unattractive?"  
"Eh?"  
"Do you think that...I don't deserve to be loved?"  
"No!" Tamao's answer came fast. "You are a wonderful person, you deserve to be happy!"  
Nagisa gave a weak smile. "Thank you. But..." her voice trailed off.  
"Say...Did something happen with Shizuma-sama?"  
Nagisa's body tensed up at the mention of her lover, which didn't slip Tamao's attention. For the moment though, she remained quiet, waiting for Nagisa to break the silence.  
"Well... You see..." Nagisa finally said, then stopped to take a deep breath before starting again. "Lately, Shizuma-san is always busy with her studies, so she comes back late..."  
"Well, they have their final exams soon, so that's to be expected..."  
Nagisa gave a slow nod. "Yeah..."  
"But that's not all, I guess?"  
"Yeah...You see, today, I finished my homework earlier than usual, and when I saw it was raining, I decided to bring her an umbrella for the way back...but, when I arrived at her classroom, she was there with Rokujou-san and...and..." She broke down crying, unable to continue for a moment.  
Tamao put her arm around Nagisa's shoulder, pulling the other girl closer to let her cry on her shoulder.  
After a few moments though, she decided to pry a bit further. "What happened after that?"  
"They...they were sitting so close to each other...and then, Shizuma-san...kissed her..."

Tamao was speechless at that revelation, all she could do was holding her crying friend while her brain tried to process the information.  
Shizuma had kissed another girl, had betrayed her lover. Sure, the former Étoile had once been famous for having a new girl almost every month, but Tamao had thought this had been over after she confessed her love to Nagisa in front of the entire student body of not only her own school, but Spica and Le Rim as well.

"Can you..." Tamao was about to bite her tongue when she realized she had almost asked Nagisa to show her how the two girls had kissed. "What I want to say is...Are you sure it really had that meaning? Not just a kiss between friends?" That would have been unusual enough, especially considering Rokujou-san's uptight character, but she asked nonetheless.  
Nagisa just slowly shook her head, tears still rolling down her face. "It...it was...Remember that time?"  
"What time?"  
"When...we were practicing with Yaya-chan and the others..."  
"Ah, that..." Tamao remembered.  
"It was...like Yaya-chan did it..." more sobbing.  
Tamao was left speechless. Any kind of kiss initiated by Shizuma would have been bad, but a passionate kiss like that was the worst.  
A feeling welled up in her heart, something she never knew before: anger. Had the former Étoile been there that moment, she would have hit her. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm down before she turned her attention back to the girl crying on her shoulder, gently stroking her back to calm her down.

"You know..."  
Nagisa looked up at her with teary eyes. "What is it?"  
Tamao sighed. "I don't think that you... I mean, if there's anyone not deserving to be loved, that would be me..."  
"Why would you think so?" Nagisa was looking surprised.  
"Guess you don't know what happened with Chiyo-chan..."  
"I do know."  
"What? But...how?"  
"Chiyo-chan told me everything what happened."  
"I see..." Tamao was not surprised; of course the younger girl would run to Nagisa first. "But, if you knew about it..."  
"What about it?"  
"Why did you come here, to a monster like me?" It hurt her heart to ask this question, but she had to do it.

At first, there was no answer. But then...  
"Say, Tamao-chan..." Nagisa looked deep in her eyes. "Do you...like me?"  
"Of course I do. You are my best friend, after all."  
"I see..." Nagisa seemed to think about the reply for a moment before she spoke again. "Do you...love me?"  
These four words took her by surprise, making her think very hard how to reply.  
In the end, she decided to be honest. "Yes. Yes, I love you. Since we first met, I've been in love with you."  
"I see..." Nagisa repeated. "I'm sorry..."  
"For what?" Tamao was confused by her friend's apology.  
"Back then, at the election..." the redhead paused, looking for the right words, "I must have hurt you."  
Tamao's thoughts went back to that day, the day she had decided to give up on her love so Nagisa could be happy with Shizuma. Remembering the feeling of her broken heart, she couldn't stop a single tear rolling down her face.  
"It's okay." Her answer was no denial, as she did not want to lie to Nagisa. "I pushed you, after all."

Another moment of silence.  
"Even so, I'm sorry for hurting you."  
"Stop it!" Tamao turned away from her "I don't deserve an apology...not after what I did to Chiyo-chan..."  
"No..." Nagisa shook her head. "I know you didn't want to hurt her...and Chiyo-chan knows it too."  
"But..." Tamao wanted to protest, but was silenced by Nagisa putting a finger on her mouth.  
"She knows you were not your usual self at that time. She is just keeping her distance because she's afraid it might happen again."  
"I see..." it was hard on herself, but Tamao had to agree that the dreadful event might repeat itself, but maybe next time she would be unable to stop herself.  
"Believe me, she never wanted anyone else to know about this." Nagisa tried to defend her kouhai. "Someone just saw her crying and made assumptions that are pretty close."  
"I know." Tamao nodded. Of course, Chiyo-chan was not the kind of person who'd talk about private matters, be they happy things or...pretty much what happened. "Thank you for telling me."  
"You know..." Nagisa looked at her, "I could talk to Chiyo-chan, so you can...you know, patch things up."  
"Thank you." Tamao suddenly realized how close their faces were; if she would just lean forward a bit...  
But instead, she hugged her friend. "Thank you, Nagisa-chan. You're a really nice girl."  
"You're welcome." The redhead was smiling, a beautiful smile Tamao had not seen in a while. And then she realized...  
"Jeez, Nagisa-chan, you're really something else."  
This earned her a curious look. "Why?"  
"You came here crying, and now you are the one cheering _me_ up."  
Nagisa gave an embarrassed laugh. "I guess so..."

Suddenly, she got up. "Thank you for listening to me, Tamao-chan."  
Before she could get a reply, she was walking towards the door, leaving behind her surprised friend.  
"Wait, Nagisa-chan..." When Tamao finally spoke, her voice was desperate. "Do you have to leave already?"  
Nagisa turned around and faced her again. And there was no trace left of the crying broken wreck from earlier.  
"I have to go now and get my things."  
"You mean..."  
Another smile answered her question even before Nagisa spoke.  
"Sorry to bother you even more, but could you get my bed ready?"  
Tamao could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but this time, they were not tears of sadness.  
"Of course!"

She looked at the door as it closed behind her friend.  
Suddenly, an idea sparked in her head.  
She grabbed her pen and some paper and started to write, her hand writing letters that formed a poem so full of emotions that all her earlier works seemed like nothing in comparison.  
And while she wrote, her usual soft smile, which she had deemed lost forever, came back to her face and stayed there.

Suzumi Tamao had been waiting for fourteen years to meet her angel.  
Waiting just a little bit longer seemed so easy at now.

* * *

 _Whew, it's been quite a while since the first chapter, but now this story is completed.  
Thank you for reading, and maybe we'll meet again in another story :)_

 _P.S.: Sorry to all fans of Shizuma for making her kinda the bad girl here. I love her, but Nagisa had to go back to Tamao-chan~_


End file.
